Various strapping and other packaging machines are known which compress a load along a single axis or along orthogonal axes, usually a vertical axis and a horizontal axis, before strapping or otherwise packaging the load.
Such a packaging machine, which is described for packaging a group of fibrous mats in a paper sheet, is exemplified in Brown U.S. Pat. No. 2,765,838. The machine disclosed in the Brown patent has a compressing ram, which operates along a vertical axis, two sealing plates, which operate along longitudinal, horizontal axes, and plural crossheads, which operate along transverse, horizontal axes.
A machine for packaging collapsed cartons by compressing such cartons along a vertical axis and strapping them with steel straps is disclosed in Wilson et al. U.S. Pat. No. 2,947,125. A machine for compressing a stack of paper bags along a vertical axis and for wrapping the stack with a paper sheet is disclosed in Lowe et al. U.S. Pat. No. 3,030,750.
A variety of other machines for compressing compressible bales, compressible batts, or similar loads and for strapping or otherwise packaging such loads are disclosed in Merkel et al. U.S. Pat. No. 3,475,879, Hullhorst et al. U.S. Pat. No. 3,499,261, Fox U.S. Pat. No. 3,585,925, Spaulding U.S. Pat. No. 3,977,155, Wistinghausen et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,099,363, McCormick et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,343,131, and Smith, Jr., U.S. Pat. No. 4,360,977. See, also, Pasic U.S. Pat. No. 3,735,555.
Although some of these machines and other known machines for similar purposes may be generally satisfactory to their users, there has been a need, to which this invention is addressed, for a strapping machine having improved features by which it is possible to compress a load not only along a vertical axis but also along a longitudinal, horizontal axis, and also to confine the load along a transverse, horizontal axis while the load is compressed, before strapping the load.